by Erin Wright
“I miss her too much,” he said, striding around Stetson’s living room, waving his hands as he went. Past the fireplace that had kept them warm. Past the couch where they’d snuggled late at night. “These weekends together, and then not seeing each other again for days, or even weeks at a time…I can’t live without her anymore, Jenn, I just can’t. I used to think that marriage wasn’t for me, but I used to be an idiot. I’m gonna sell my farm and move to Boise and…well, I’ll work at C-A-L Ranch or something. Something!” He slumped onto the couch, and just stared at Jennifer, pain vibrating off him in thick waves. Retail wouldn’t kill him, right?
Oh God, he didn’t want to sell his farm. He loved it with all of his heart and soul. He’d given up so much for that farm – worked so hard through the spring and into the fall to make it a success. But…
He couldn’t live without Bonnie. Coming together, being torn back apart again, over and over…
Yeah, Skype was wonderful, and sure, they had it easier than people living on the other side of the planet from each other.
But he wanted to wake up in the morning to find her by his side.
He wanted to come home at night and have the lights on in the house. Have someone there to greet him, someone to care about him.
He wanted to lean over and kiss her whenever he damn well pleased.
He most especially wanted her. However, whenever, wherever he could. He was sure that if he had to say goodbye to Bonnie one more time, his heart was going to be torn to shreds.
And if that meant giving up his farm, so be it. Jennifer had been in real estate and banking for a long time. She’d know what to do, how much he could ask for, who to list it with.
This whole thing was her damn fault for introducing them, so she could surely help him figure out a way to make it happen.
With the snow melting and spring planting about to begin, it was a tough time to sell a farm – he’d have to plant what he always did and just hope that a buyer wanted to buy acres of wheat.
He didn’t know how long it would take to sell his farm, so he didn’t dare let it sit fallow and then not have a crop to harvest that fall, if the farm was still hanging on like a noose around his neck. His yearly payment on the bank loan came due every fall after harvest, and if he was still stuck with it at that point, if he didn’t have a harvest to sell, he wouldn’t be able to make the payment.
No, he wouldn’t let himself think that. He had to get rid of it, no matter how much that hurt, or what kind of hit he took on the price.
“Wow. I knew it was hard for you two to be apart, but I never considered you selling your farm.” Jennifer said the words softly and he knew that she knew just what he was suggesting here.
Knew what a huge sacrifice this was.
But Bonnie was worth it. Bonnie was worth anything.
“I don’t want to. I offered to pay off Bonnie’s student loans and then she could move to Long Valley, but she’s right – it’s more than just her student loans. She needs money for her car payment and insurance and cell phone and food,” his lips quirked slightly at that, “and so she insists on having, you know, a real job.
“So if I can’t get her here, I’ll move there. Surely C-A-L Ranch would love to hire someone like me, even if I’ve never worked a cash register in my life. I know more than those high school kids anyway.”
“I’ve been working on a plan, Luke, tell me what you think…”
Chapter 16
Bonnie
Jennifer slid the key into the lock for the business and swung the front door open wide. “C’mon in,” she said, gesturing with her hand to the office space in front of her, her stomach leading the way into the office. Jenn had somehow made swallowing a basketball look amazing. “It’s a little brisk in here, but I haven’t had the heat turned over into my name yet, so I can’t turn it on. You’ll just have to imagine it being warmer in here.”
Bonnie smiled at her, forcing happiness into it, walking into the office. It was the end of another all-too-short weekend in Long Valley, and honestly, Bonnie was having a hard time concentrating on what Jennifer was saying. She just couldn’t get her mind to look past the fact that she was about to say goodbye to Luke.
Again.
For the millionth time, she was going to drive away and cry as she went, which she was pretty sure was illegal, considering it was hard to see the road with tears in her eyes, but waiting for the tears to abate…
Well, she just didn’t have years to sit in a parking lot and wait for that to happen.
Speaking of, where was Luke? She tried to listen to Jennifer’s excited plans for her new accounting office in downtown Sawyer, but quite frankly, her heart just wasn’t in it. Luke had said he’d be right behind them, but it’d been at least 20 minutes.
She surreptitiously checked her watch.
Okay, 16 minutes.
But still!
She needed to get all of the time in with him that she could, before she had to hit the road again.
Jennifer showed Bonnie the nursery, a small room off to the side that was ready and waiting for the baby’s birth, decorated beautifully as always. Jenn was so talented when it came to interior decorating.
Where is Luke?
The sound of a bell jingling had Bonnie heading for the front area. She wasn’t sure if Jennifer had even been talking when she walked away and she was probably going to have to apologize for being rude later, but being apart from Luke for…checking…19 minutes was about 19 minutes too long in her estimation.
She came around the corner to find…
Luke with a box in his hands? Why was there a box in his hands? And what was…
The world slowed and then stopped as she saw the glint of light off the diamond.
On the ring.
In the box.
There were tears then, streaming down her face, and Bonnie didn’t know whether to throw herself into his arms and cry, “YEESSSS!” for the whole world to hear, or throw herself into his arms and just cry.
“Luke, I can’t…we can’t. Where will we live?” She kept dashing at the tears on her cheeks with the backs of her hands but the flow was never-ending.
She walked slowly towards him, her eyes flicking back and forth between his eyes and his box. It was a silver band and a gorgeous princess-cut diamond and…
How did he know that’s what I wanted?!
And
Oh God, why are you torturing me?
“I need an accounting partner, you know,” Jennifer said behind her. Bonnie whirled around and for the first time, noticed a second desk.
Two desks.
Jennifer held up a nameplate and through the blur of her tears, she saw Bonnie Patterson-Nash engraved on it.
“Yes!” she cried, throwing herself at Luke.
“Yes to which question?” Luke asked, his arms wrapping around her, staring down at her, his dark chocolate eyes still a little worried, a little unsure.
“Yes to both!”
He picked her up then, pulling her against his chest, the panic in his eyes fading away, swinging her around and around.
“Yes, I will marry you, Luke Nash!” And he kissed her, and the moment was endless and yet it seemed to last only a moment. Or a lot of moments. Bonnie wasn’t sure. She wasn’t sure of much right then, except how much she loved this man in front of her.
“I love you, Luke,” she breathed against his lips.
Jennifer said something as she slipped past them and headed outside, but Bonnie didn’t hear her. Her world had narrowed to this gorgeous man in front of her.
“I love you, Bonnie Rae Patterson,” Luke breathed against her lips. “I can’t wait to start our life together.”
Which sounded just like heaven.
Curious why Wyatt and Declan couldn’t be there for Christmas? Read Wyatt’s story in Arrested by Love, where mistakes are a part of life, and redemption is a hard-won battle…
Chapter 1
Wyatt
Wyatt Mil
ler wandered down the snack aisle of the Mr. Petrol’s at 11:30 at night. Nothing like trying to find dinner in the aisles of a convenience store. Did onion rings and beef jerky count as a balanced diet? He could consider the onion rings to be his vegetables, and the beef jerky to be his protein.
He grimaced. Some days, living in a small town really sucked, like when grocery stores prided themselves on being “open late” – all the way until nine at night.
He pulled Lay’s Salt & Vinegar off the display.
Look, more vegetables.
He wasn’t sure a dietician would approve, but then again, there was almost nothing in this convenience store that a dietician would approve of. He really should just drive to Franklin and go grocery shopping there, but that was 30 minutes away and he just didn’t feel like it. When he died, his headstone was going to read, “Too lazy to drive to Franklin; died of a heart attack from eating junk food from Mr. Petrol’s.”
Just then, a vehicle pulled up outside. Well, “pulled up” made it sound like the driver was in control of their actions, but as Wyatt watched, his bag of chips forgotten in his hands, he saw the Jeep stop just in time to keep from crashing through the front windows of the convenience store.
Oh shit.
He knew that Jeep. There was only one orange camo Jeep in the valley.
The driver’s side door swung open and out swaggered Richard. Wyatt couldn’t tell if Richard was swaggering because he was so arrogant and full of himself – always a possibility – or because he was drunk – definitely another possibility.
Wyatt reminded himself to breathe in, and then out. And then repeat it all over again. He couldn’t react the way he wanted to – a punch to the face – so he needed to just stay calm. That’s what everyone would tell him, anyway.
He knew that. It was a matter of remembering that. And doing that.
No matter how good a punch to Richard’s face would feel.
Richard stumbled into the store and from two aisles over, Wyatt could smell the fumes rolling off him.
Drunk it was.
Richard managed to make his way over to the beer case without taking out an end-cap display, nothing short of a miracle really, and snagged a 24-pack of Budweiser.
A 24-pack? Really? When you’re already this wasted?
Wyatt was having a hard time breathing again and he realized that he’d smashed the bag of chips in his hands into a tiny ball, chips spilling onto the floor from the busted seams of the bag. Richard didn’t seem to notice the noise, though, swinging the 24-pack up onto the counter and swiping his debit card moments later.
Breathe in, breathe out.
Wyatt was hoping that at any moment, the cashier would stop him. Surely, he’d realize that giving Richard more beer at this point was a truly awful idea.
Right?
Richard took his beer and began stumbling towards the door.
The cashier wasn’t going to stop him. Wyatt could feel the rage begin to boil up inside of him.
“Why did you sell him that beer?!” The words burst out of Wyatt like gunfire. He couldn’t stop himself from asking any more than he could stop himself from breathing.
“Dude, do you know who that is?” the cashier responded with a shrug.
“Of course I know who that is,” Wyatt ground out.
“Well, my probation is almost up. Just a month more and I’m out of the system. I’m not pissing off the judge’s son.”
That was it. Wyatt threw the mangled bag of chips to the floor and sprinted for the door. He wasn’t about to stand by and let Richard take someone’s life because he happened to share genetic material with the only judge in town. Oh hell no.
He burst out the front door of Mr. Petrol’s. Richard had finally managed to get his key into the ignition and turn it. Wyatt grabbed the door handle and yanked it open.
“Whaddya want, killer?” Richard slurred, blearily focusing his eyes on Wyatt.
“Hello, brother. Nice to see you again.” Wyatt pulled back his fist and planted it squarely in the middle of Dick’s nose.
Chapter 2
Abby
“Good morning, Daddy,” Abby said in a sing-song voice as she walked into the sheriff’s office.
So, she may or may not have known exactly what he was going to say in response before he even opened his mouth. She’d opened with the “Daddy” greeting because the mood in the office told her that he was in a particularly foul mood, and, well, sometimes it was a little fun to screw with her father’s head.
“You know the rules,” he scolded her. “When either one of us is in uniform, we have to be Sheriff and Deputy. I get enough raised eyebrows for hiring my own daughter. Don’t make that worse, especially today of all days.”
“Oh yeah? What’s going on?” She sat down in front of his gigantic desk, intrigued. Usually, her dad didn’t let stuff get to him, but the way he was pacing back and forth in front of the only window in the room, she was starting to think something bigger than dispatch showing up late, as always, was going on.
“You might as well hear it from me because it’s about to become your problem,” the sheriff said.
“Hold on. You’re the guy in charge. Aren’t problems your department?”
“Actually, my job is deciding who problems belong to and making assignments accordingly,” he retorted.
She stifled the urge to roll her eyes. Some days, being the daughter of the sheriff could be more than a little annoying.
“So, what’s causing such stress in the squad room?”
“You’ll never believe who’s in the back.”
“You’re right, I have no clue. I actually turned my radio off last night and since no one called, I assumed everything was fine.”
“Wyatt Miller,” he said.
“Wow,” Abby said, just as shocked as he’d thought she’d be. She stared at him for a moment, trying to process what he’d just said. She suddenly felt awful for being bratty when she first came in. As his daughter, she needed to be more supportive, a little less sarcastic. “Are you okay?”
“You’ll never believe why he’s in here,” he said, ignoring her question.
“Did he tear up O’Malley’s over a game of pool again?”
“No, he beat up Richard Schmidt in the parking lot of Mr. Petrol’s.”
“He what?!” she exploded. “How in the hell could he do something like that?!”
Dad just stared at her and that’s when Abby got past the shock of Wyatt beating Richard up – although really, that was going to take a while, if she was being honest with herself – to how hard it must be on her dad to be dealing with this. This was like a maelstrom of every shitty possible circumstance, thrown together.
“Oh my God, Dad, are you okay?” She jumped out of her chair and went to give him a hug.
“Abby…” He held up his hands defensively, warding off her hug, something that stung her more than she would’ve guessed it would. She changed directions and headed for the open office door instead.
“Don’t give me that,” she said, shutting the door and turning back to him with a sympathetic look. “There are times that you’re still my father, no matter how many badges you stack between us, and this is one of those times.”
“Okay, fine.” He took a deep breath and looked her in the eye. “To be honest, I’m not doing that well. That’s why I want you to be the one who handles this. I kept it together for the most part when I talked with his brothers. However, I could feel my restraint slipping,” he said, rubbing his forehead. “This seems very cut and dry. I should want him to get what's fair, but given everything that's happened, I can’t stop feeling like he should get more than what's strictly speaking ‘fair.’ That’s the problem. If I can’t control my personal feelings and I screw this up, he won’t even get what he rightly deserves.”
“So…you want me to take this on?” At his nod, she asked him, a bit sarcastically, “What makes you think I can control my temper better than you can?”
�
�You’re a better person than I am,” he said simply.
“That’s not true and you know it.”
“Well, everyone will have to deal with him at some point, but I’m trying to remove myself from the situation as much as possible. I don’t want my personal feelings to get in the way. I’m hoping that because you have some distance and you’re the shift commander, you’ll be more effective than I would be in making sure nothing goes wrong.”
“Are you okay?” She knew she sounded like a broken record but she couldn’t help worrying as she studied her father. His blood pressure could get too high and—
“Yeah, I’m great,” he said, trying and failing to act happy and normal, and then he slammed his fist down on the desk. “No, I’m pissed as hell right now. I cannot believe that it was that asshole who beat up the judge’s son. That’s Wyatt Miller for you – he thinks he can solve all the world’s problems with his fists, and he never stops to think about whether or not he should be involved, and especially whether or not his fists should be involved. Next, he’ll be down at the bar, telling yet another round of people that he knows how to run their farms better than they do. I’ve never met such an arrogant, know-it-all piece of shit in all my life.”
He stopped and stared at Abby, breathing heavily.
“I’m pretty sure it’s clear that I shouldn’t be involved with the day-to-day business of keeping Wyatt here,” he said, and Abby thought she could hear just the barest hint of sarcasm in his voice when he said that.
She just bit her lip and nodded. Even though Wyatt’s comment to the whole town about how her dad didn’t know how to run a farm and he could show him how to do it had happened what felt like eons ago, it was obvious her dad still hadn’t gotten over it. She wasn’t sure if he ever would. At least her dad realized that he needed to keep that space between them.
“All right, Sheriff, what do you need me to do?”
“Just do your job as shift commander and jail supervisor. Treat him like any other detainee, but if you have any problems, just take care of it. And for hell’s sakes, don’t give his lawyer any wiggle room. You have my full authority to just act as you see fit, as long as you leave me out of it.”